Athletic games and other gymnastic sporting events are frequently held outdoors on multi-purpose athletic fields. Sporting events such as football, soccer, and baseball are held on the same athletic field at different times but require different boundary and sideline markings as well as various line markings within the designated playing field. Football fields, for instance, require sidelines, hash marks, goal lines, and intervening yard lines while soccer fields contain sidelines, goal lines, mid-field stripes, and similar line markings. Although football and soccer are rectangular playing fields, the line markings are different. Baseball fields require foul lines and playing field boundary lines which frequently include an outfield periphery fence marking the end of the playing field. Baseball field orientations are completely different and frequently are cross-orientated to football and soccer field orientations. Athletic fields, especially for schools, are frequently used for major competition as well as for gym classes, including flag or touch football and hence, the markings need to be changed frequently on a weekly or even daily basis to accommodate the specific sporting event. Athletic fields dedicated to one sport need to be remeasured and resurveyed at the beginning of each year and ordinarily visible lines are re-marked each week with visible line markings such as chalk or paint lines prior to each sporting event due to loss of the markings from wear and weather conditions. Existing marking devices are not permanent markers for marking visible lines and often disappear due to vandalism or become obscured to overgrowth. Many devices are safety hazards which can cause injuries to players who inadvertently come in contact with the ground devices or the upright marker. Marking devices such as wooden stakes or plastic posts or cones are inaccurate and unsafe. In essence, athletic fields need to be permanently marked for multiple sport activities and remain consistent for everyday use without the need for resurveying the field. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a permanent marking system for an athletic field where critical marking points for a single sport or multiple sporting events can be permanently located on an athletic field in conjunction with positioning upright marking devices securely anchored to the ground and non-hazardous to the players but easily removable after the sporting event.
It now has been found that specially designed marking systems for marking athletic fields comprising permanent flush ground anchors located at critical points, a removable marking means for aligning visible chalk lines on the athletic field, and a plurality of upwardly extending removable markers where each contains an internal spring mechanism particularly adapted to bend 360.degree. upon impact from any direction efficiently provides a simplified marking system for locating permanent marking devices and visible line markings for various athletic events in conjunction with setting up hazard-free visible upright markers for the intended athletic event. The field marking system comprises laying out locations where boundary and line markings are needed, locating pilot holes in the ground at strategic points, and inserting the ground anchors. The athletic field can be lined by inserting a removable lining peg or post into the ground anchor and by stringing a marking line from peg to peg to create a straight guide line for aligning and applying visible marking lines on the playing field. The marked athletic field is readied for use by removing the lining pegs and inserting upright visible markers in the ground anchors where appropriate. After the athletic event is completed, the upright markers can be removed and stored in a lightweight carrying bag while the ground anchors remain in the ground permanently from event to event or year to year without the need for resurveying the same athletic field. If the same athletic field is used for other sporting events, the second athletic playing field can be similarly surveyed and strategically marked with a second set of permanent ground anchors where each set is readily identified by a different identifying indicia. Once the ground anchors for each sport have been appropriately located, the same athletic field can be readily converted from a football field to a soccer field for instance, within minutes by merely removing one set of marking devices and by identifying and using the appropriate second set of ground anchors to set up an efficient and reliable marking system for the next sporting event with little effort. Hence, the versatile multiple use athletic field can be permanently marked with safe ground anchors which remain consistent from event to event and year to year. The ground anchors and the upright marking devices are all designed for safety and durability including a coiled spring means for attaching the upright marker to a ground anchor, whereby impact by athletes from any angle will not harm the athletes.
The efficient marking system of this invention provides an accurate athletic field marking system for consistency in field layout and marking from event to event and from year to year with the flexibility to accommodate multiple sporting events at different times. The unique modular design system accommodates multiple sets of marking devices to accommodate increased levels of sporting events, physical education, and recreational needs. Risk of player injuries upon impact with the highly visible upright markers are essentially eliminated due to the safety structures of each upright marker. Although the ground anchors are permanent, the attaching coiled spring means used in the anchor sockets are removable whereby the same ground anchors are used for lining the field prior to the sporting event in addition to marking the necessary marking points during the athletic event. When the ground anchors are properly installed in an accurately surveyed athletic field, the permanent ground anchors remain in place for subsequent playing field alignment identification, simplified field chalk lining, and efficient installation of safe marking devices. These and other advantages of this invention will become apparent from the drawing and detailed description of the invention.